(Washington, DC, Friday, March 29, 2019) – A cities economy and businesses are directly affected by the meetings, conferences, conventions, incentive travel, and trade shows that are held across the state. Leaders from across the meetings and events industry are coming together to support Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) on Thursday, April 4, 2019.

Research by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company, found every dollar spent on face-to-face meetings and business events generated an additional $1.60 for the U.S. economy – an increase of 160%.

The services provided by the meetings and travel industry often go unnoticed, but the economic impact is unmistakable.  Research by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company, shows that face-to-face meetings and business events not only play a critical role in connecting people and driving business results, but also in supporting 5.9 million jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue. Hosting a meeting, convention or trade show stimulates a region’s economy by bringing in new visitors, who stay in area hotels, eat in local restaurants, shop in neighborhood stores and bring new revenue to the destination.

• In 2016, 1.9 million meetings were held in the United States, generating $845 billion in economic impact (or business sales). This contributed $446 billion in GDP and $104 billion of federal, state and local taxes.
• Meetings supported more direct jobs than many large manufacturing sectors, including machinery, food, auto, and chemicals. It sustained more jobs than the telecommunications and oil and gas extraction industries as well.

Small business owners’ value face-to-face meetings due to high returns on investment, increased collaboration and improved business relationships. Eighty-two percent of small business owners agreed that building partnerships is best done in-person.